Prevention of ice formation in air intakes on aircraft and other fast-moving vehicles



Sepi. 20, 1949. H. SAMMONS 2,482,720

PREVENTION OF ICE FORMATION IN AIR INTAKES on AIRCRAFT AND OTHER FAST MOVING VEHICLES Filed Feb. 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor Herbal 1" Summons Sept. 20, 1949. H. SAMMONS PREVENTION OF ICE FORMATION IN AIR INTAKES ON AIRCRAFT AND OTHER FAST MOVING VEHICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1948 I n be nt0r H e 'rbe'rf Sa m-mons.

Attorney 1 fi i 'tiiiziifi'iiofiton ICE Foiuiili'ii 'INTAKESTONUAIRCRAET AND 01mm -rAsT lg ovmq vEmo lEs;

V Sa mn'ions,;- G errards signurgtomD. Napieiti & Son Limited, London,

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invention relates meansl for 'preventandthen inwards thfough an annularopening i ice pa c s hein eq ed d W amneta tan t h t e. n: ried with the air into the air intake of the prointalg agdtherflow through this Opening; may" pulsin apparatus-pt an girciaft or other fast be controlled by a Valve structure such as flaps 11g vgghicli and; is articuiarly but not ex 5 or the like. i H Y 1 1 ...l aenlipableient :ei a -oiwa na ne of e abov d a e r an e-i bine p gobu l sive apparatus or of an internal comments: i accordance with this; invention there:- bu stionengine as used for the propulsion of are orifices ina hollow casing forming aall f 'i i 'f l'. 1 ,a V :J r m9 h-9 hee i e ek wi h a s r it is knownimg e pa ularly in aircraft that 10 liy er nglheatedair or othergasin jets through under certain atmospheric conditions; usually these orifices so thatthese'jets are directed into-- ma e ssi ns cendi i ei ice tends to form 39 ei se e n w h nta -awa e the guardv ndlbui d up n belt o hi h t li Structure is te p a r pr r pinges this, ior na 'onn e'peing due to small andlthe air as it flows-into the annular in a ltiels ine er. fi eletm he t i to ak sen pa st nough-the guard until thisis ice. as they impinge qgsuch parts, Such icemay iced-up andv then oyer it and through an annular-- ofistfuct thejiree now-chair over the aircraft or opening around-rthczg'uard, orifices-are-arrangedee-e fre t pne etipn-a movin P8215? a am: a-t ee peinme he t h t guard elme n e. E i-11.5w f rpe ampl 1 ice b kin ed e q 1 19??? re o d folfleliveling 1 away andibeirilg carried sornetirnes in 'compara- I 20 jetsloi iieatedIair onothgr gas thi'ough these tiygly large pieces;into the apparatus to which orifices so-thatthesejetswill be directed radially outwards, into 'thenair snowing past the g uard;

flows lletair en erin the htak a a l -Tgpreventfthe entrypt'pieces oi-iceorother structure into the;air intake Jets oihot air or. foreign matter into a air; intake ithas been otheri gas mayfllcie deliveredaslabovelindicated' p fonosed o- -ngount in frgnt of the intake and at both;.radially linwardsflandalso radially outvfix d'distance therefrom a flatgriddikestruc wfar'ds into the 'streain of air flowing into the tui'e, Such -a grid howeverunder icing'condiintake"; .ZTQ f tiqns doesnot retfent theformation-pi ice in the It lwill be'.understoodfithat'in an one of. the air intalgeor wholly-stop the passage of particles arrangements inaccorda'noe with this invention of ice into theiintake, I a T a didatd' ahoire underg icingi conditions the le er ieglitazthi ai xeet qxti li xpnu s vean:. d? c, 'age'df,rbirticlesfoi"ice'into the air m-' t f he type referred to andior the purtak is"pfevented b'y'ithelaction of/ the guard in mated-there is combined with the intake; that it defle'ctsftheiairilstreain in'su'ch a manner that fiair'ticles or ice. will be thrown clear of the.- annular openinglbliiiidl the guardthrough which tigne d.-i n" front.optheairrintake and-tendsto the airca'n .onlyente'iiafter' 'its new has beenfde vent ice fron being carried' d'rectly into main; fl'ected inwards." The guard fpe'rforms its func-' tangentnssqr,,supp1 1n t a r Q ".Othe I1-i' on'au matic lyf t a e e 'p' i u asahii tgr qel v rinsiit iqrjnstane n: jB Sri QQx nQt t' P m ts. heff ee'ia d direct passage of the air-which;flows past ;the; guard i tqyhe m airf to' the irltakuntil icing conditions obstruct take. The structureconstituting the guard ,ad-;.:. i air'fi m Q i, I nta epusly maybe er ous. oo hatauntilgit-v ;an 'f a e w et er he uardris perviousor: iced-11g air can flow;throug-h;it;;;and;sp arranged; imperviqus'the d'eliveryfof hot air or other a that theair as it flows 'pasttheguard'ginto-the, into-the." H flowing; into the intake; either conintake can either flow direct or may ,lf ollowzag stantlyior if .'desire'df only under icing conditions,- pathwhichissinuous. {Ih .jair will-followisuchi: Will-tend tomeltfsuch"'sn1all"particles of ice as apath when a pervious guardyisdced, up; Thej; may not lieQthrow'n .ofi hutcarried inwards into". guard structure; may be mountedom and rotate; 11 th in ak fiiid n t is waitpr vent jdalma e bein with a spinnel or ;t he ghub' of a. propeller or it causedby ice fiarticlejs intheairstream: 'f maybe non rotatable l, ;ii e accompanying'drawings illustrate by way,

.Wherethe structureiconstitutingstheguardis of x mp1ea1temaav cgns'tructions and .arof; a pgrvious nature; so ,t hatliuntil the. guard: is rangem'ents thatmat be employed in carrying the icfidjlp' air can vflow;,directly'zthroughiit into an invention intopractice; In-thesedrawings} m i annularzintake ithe. air; whenvits flow through' Fig'ii're 1: is a ssmewhat diagraamaac side ele the guard is obstructed will flow'ove'r the'guard55 vatioii'partially in section along a longitudinal on the spinner in Figure 3 is a similar view showing-an' alterna tive structure and arrangement of a pervious uard on the spinner in conjunction with means for controlling the air flow past the guard and into the air intake when flow through the guard is obstructed by ice. V

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 3 showing one arrangement of a pervious guard which may be employed in conjunction with a cylindrical intake opening as distinct from the an-' nular intake openings in the constructions illustrated in the above mentioned figures.

Referring to Figure 1, the spinner A of ordinary known construction" is mounted on or connected to the hub B of the propeller so that it rotates therewith. The propeller is driven in a known manner by a turbine enclosed in a casing C, the

turbine being propelled by the products of combu'stion from" combustion chambers situated at D, air for combustion being delivered into these chambers by a compressor located at E and driven by the turbine, the air flowing to this compressor through an annular passage F having an inlet opening at F around the spinner A and in advance of the propeller hub B; In'front of the annular air intake F there is mounted on the spinner A a-guard G'which in this case is in the form of an annular perforated plate structure a through'which air can flow directly to the intake opening F so long 'as the openings through the guard G are not obstructed by ice; Between the casin H-which forms the outer'wall of the inlet opening F and the peripheryof the guard plate G is an annular gap J through which air can fiow in the manner, indicated by the arrows over the edge of the guard plate G and into the intake opening F when the guard'plate G is iced-up so that air can no longer fiow directly through it.

In the inner wall H of the hollow casing H around the annular air intake are formed a series of openings K through which hot air or gas can issue into the air flowing into the air intake F 7 A series of similar openings L are formed in the wall of the spinner A just at the rear of the guard plate G and hot air can issuefrom these openings L into the intake F Hot air or gas may be .supplied to the delivery nozzles K and L in various ways;'o'ne way being illustrated for example in Figure 1. Here there is arranged at the rear of the spinner A an annular manifold M provided with jet nozzles M delivering into the interior of the casing HH and jet nozzles M which deliver into the interior of the spinner A. Hot gas tapped off from the exhaust passage C through. which the gases flow from the turbine are led H through piping M to the manifold M. In this piping is a valve M which may be operated manually or automatically in accordance with tem perature and serves to control the flow of hot gases through the orifices K. andL into the air flowing to the compressor. In place of tapping the hot'gas from the exhaust pipingc air as This view shows one form of a pervious of a series of slat-likerings of different diameters 4 delivered by the compressor may be drawn off into the piping M Referring to the arrangement shown in Figure 2, this resembles that described above with reference to Figure 1 except that the guard G is here curved so as to olfer less air resistance. This guard may conveniently be constituted as shown suitably connected by radial members and spaced apart so that air can flow freely between these Y slats and thus directly'to the air intake opening F -until the faceofthe guard G is obstructed by the formation ofice. When this has occurred the air flow to the intake F is indirect through theannular-gap J between the rear edge of the guard and the annular casing H around the intake opening: Hot gas can be delivered through 3 orifices K and L disposed as described in connection with the construction shown in Figure 1,

this gas being delivered through piping M to a manifold M whence the gas is delivered through jet nozzles into the'interior of the casing H of the spinner A.

Referring to the construction shown in Figure 3, here als'o'the guard is mounted on thespin'ner A. In this case there is an annular hollow casing N suitably mounted on the forward end of the spinner A and the guard plate G is aflat annulus attached at its inner edge to the spinner A and at its periphery to the hollow casing N. i There is thus an annular intake passageF through which the air flowing through the pervious guard plate G can flow directly to the main annular air ini take F adjacent to and just in front of the propeller hub B, this intake being formed between the outer wall of the spinner A and the outer hollow casing H. There is an annular gap J forming an inlet opening between the rear edge of the casing'N and-the'forward edge of the casing H, and through this gap J an which has passed over the casing N can flow into the annular intake F The gap J can be closed by a series of fiap valves O pivoted at O on'the inside of the casing N and at its rear end. These flap valves 0 when in the position in which they are shown in full lines in Figure 3 leave the annular intake F open for the inflow of air but close the annular intake J the valves being in this position when the normal air flow can take place a through the guard plate G When however the air flow through this plate is obstructed by ice the valves 0 are moved to'the position indicated in dotted lines at O ;'thu's opening'the annular intake J through which the air flow'wil1 then take place. g

In this constructionhot gas can be delivered to the jet orifices L in the spinner and through jet orifices K in the inner wall of the annular hol low casing N. Hot gas is delivered from the manifold M through jet nozzles M into the interior of'the casing H whence these gases can flow through piping N into the interior of the an nular casing N. 'Hot gas from the manifold M can also flow through the nozzles M into the interior of the spinner A, the gas issuing then through the orifices L. The hot gas will thus be delivered both in outwardly and inwardly directed jets into the air stream flowing through the guard plate G? and the annular'intake F Figure 4 shows an arrangement for the guard member in conjunction with a cylindrical air intake opening F The guard'G in this case is conveniently of a pervious structure so that until it is iced-up air can flow-directly through the guard into the intake'opening F j If however the face of the guard is iced-up the air must then flow over the guard and in through the annular intake opening J The guard G is carried through a rod or like member G by a torpedoshaped structure R disposed within the cylindrical air intake F This arrangement is suitable for use in the case of the air intake to a jet propulsion apparatus having no propeller. A hollow casing H surrounds the intake F and hot gas can be supplied to the interior of this casing in the manner described above, the gas issuing through orifices K and being directed inwardly into the entering air stream. Orifices L in the hollow structure R enable jets of hot gas to be delivered outwardly into the entering air stream.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for preventing ice particles from being carried by air flowing into the air intake in propulsion apparatus of the type indicated comprising in combination a main air intake passage leading to the propulsion apparatus, a pervious structure constituting a guard positioned in front of the opening into the air intake and through which air can flow directly into the intake until the passages through the guard are iced up and the direct air flow is obstructed, an annular intake opening behind the guard through which air can flow into the said main intake passage When the flow through the said guard is obstructed, and means for delivering hot gas into the air which flows past the said guard structure into the intake.

2. Apparatus for preventing ice particles from being carried by air flowing into the air intake in propulsion apparatus of the type indicated comprising in combination a main air intake passage leading to the propulsion apparatus, a pervious structure constituting a guard positioned in front of the opening into the air intake passage and serving to prevent ice particles from being carried directly into the intake, an annular intake opening behind the said guard and leading into the said main air intake passage, means including a valve structure for controlling the air flow past the guard and into the said annular intake opening behind the guard, and means for delivering hot gas into the air which flows into the said main air intake passage.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the air intake passage is annular and the means for delivering hot gases into the air comprise a series of radical openings in at least one of the walls bounding said intake passage.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein the air intake passage is annular, and the means for delivering hot gases into the air comprise a series of openings in at least one of the Walls bounding said air intake.

5. Apparatus for preventing ice particles from being carried by air flowing into the intake in propulsion apparatus of the character described comprising in combination a main air intake passage leading to the propulsion apparatus, said intake passage having an inlet opening at its front end, a pervious guard member positioned in front of said opening to deflect ice particles therefrom, said guard being spaced from said opening to provide a circumferential channel communicating with said passage, said channel providing for flow of air into said main intake passage around said pervious guard, and means adjacent to said pervious guard for delivering hot gas into the air flowing through said guard before entering said intake passage.

HERBERT SAMMONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,365,328 Bell Dec. 19, 1944 2,389,313 Hunter Nov. 20, 1945 2,404,275 Clark et al July 16, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES Ser. No. 373,622, Neumannet al. (A. P. C.) pub lished May 25, 1943. 

